Pages

Welcome

Welcome to the Blak Rayne Blog, where I post articles, author interviews, book and movie reviews, as well as anything else that sparks my interest!

BLAK RAYNE PUBLICATIONS LTD.

YELLOW SILK DREAMS

SUBSCRIBE TO BRN

Blak Rayne Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required

Email Address *

Name *

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

AUTHOR INTERVIEW AKM MILES

Welcome everyone to the author interview Wednesday! My guest today is AKM Miles. It's so wonderful to have you here AKM, thanks for taking the time to do the interview! Let's get started.

1.Who is AKM Miles? Tell us about yourself.

I am a retired special ed teacher who has loved reading since I was an elementary student. I read voraciously, though lately I’ve read 90+% M/M. I have many friends, some of them know and approve of my new career. I started writing five years after I retired from teaching. I lost my mother to heart disease last month and that has left a huge hole in my own heart and life. She loved my writing and was a huge support. I love writing gay romance. I love reading gay romance. I like it when there is a little intrigue involved. I don’t like scary, just mystery. Love cops, cowboys, shifters, vamps, etc. It goes on. I like contemporary…and historical. As long as there are men in love, I’m in.

I’m also a photographer and have lots to do with that. I’m not professional, but I do a lot of work for others…and myself.

2.When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

Early on. Had a story in the high school newspaper. Have two het novels that never did anything. It was when I became interested in gay lit that it all came together for me.

3.Who and/or what prompted you to write your first novel?

I went to a drag show and during a break I saw a couple dancing. You can find the scene in my first book, though it’s at a bar. The smaller guy was wrapped around the larger one and his hands were clenched tightly in his partner’s shirt. He was not letting go. It touched me. I thought, “You need a story.” It ended up being just a small scene, but it got in there. That’s what really started it for me. This was after seeing and then reading Brokeback Mountain and being so touched by it.

4.Where and/or how do you find the greatest inspiration?

Mostly in my head. I think of something and then I might see someone and think that he would be a good match for what I’ve been thinking about. Things like that. I wanted to do one about truck drivers to show how hard working and smart they are, for my brother. I wanted to write one about bullying…because it needed to be written. That one is For Gom’s Sake, and the YA version, Undercover Assignment. I get ideas from people I see or know, events that I can twist to fit a story line, etc.

5.What made you chose to write contemporary, erotic gay literature in particular? And is there any other genre you’d like to write? And if so, why?

6.Which appears first when contemplating a new project: A character, the plot and/or the title?

Most of the time, the character is first, maybe with a partial plot. The title just comes to me sometimes at first and sometimes later.

7.What’s the hardest part of a novel for you to write: Beginning, middle and/or end? Why?

Middle, I guess. I get started and get my characters set and then into the story and may take a pause to decided where I’m going. The ending usually writes itself naturally from the story.

8.Has your own life influenced your novels? And if so, how?

Yes. I was a teacher. I saw bullying, teasing, taunting. I use things I’ve gone through or seen in life to add a sense of realness to a story. I think it’s the little things in a book that make it real for someone.

9.Writing sex/romantic scenes can be a challenge for some authors. Do you find it difficult? If yes, how do you compensate? If no, where do you draw your inspiration?

You’re right. It’s hard. Sometimes I have it in my mind ahead of time how these two are going to get along together in intimate situations. Sometimes I have to just make myself get it done so I can get on with the story. Don’t get me wrong, I like the sex in the books, but I don’t want it to be every other page and the focal point for the characters.

10.Do you have a method you use to write the sensual parts? Do you prefer the sex to be open and bold? Or left to the imagination?

I’ll tell you a secret. I used to always say that what turned me on in a sex scene is when they talk to each other. I’d rather read one page of a love scene where they converse, laugh, tease, etc. than read three pages of prose where he put this here and turned and felt that and reached for that…dull. It’s the personalities and the joy in each other that makes it hot for me. I like it open and sexy sweet. I don’t want it left to the imagination completely like books used to do when I was reading years ago, leaving you at the bedroom door, but I like it to be done with love and caring, not just fu…uh, screwing. In my books, it’s making love, not porn. I hope.

11. Are your characters based on people you know? Or are they completely fictitious?

A mixture. Jamie, from Love, Jamie is based on a tech that worked with my mother a few years ago in a rehab center. He was Jamie all over. He had these LOL’s (little old ladies) in the palm of his gorgeous hands. He treated them with such care and flirted with them and made sure they were comfortable, etc. Soldier? Totally made up. So, they come up either way. I have notes on my computer that are ideas for future books. I have a really hard time getting to new ones, because I tend to put such neat characters in each story that need their own story, so I end up doing sequels a lot.

12.Who is your favorite character, which you’ve created? And why?

Soldier/Gom. I had to say both of them because it’s a father son pairing that go together. Gom is featured heavily in Soldier and Soldier is a strong presence in For Gom’s Sake. These characters are my most-loved by both myself and my fans. I will be revisiting them in the future.

13.Can you tell us about your latest release? Give a synopsis.

My latest release was For Gom’s Sake and then the YA version of it, Undercover Assignment. It deals with teen bullying. Here’s the blurb that works for both.

Gom Marsh liked knowing that the work he did as an undercover cop, enrolling into high schools to assist the staff in cases of extreme bullying, made a difference. It was rewarding, but often heartbreaking, work. When a new man, Casey Tanner, comes into his life, his heart is immediately engaged. Is he about to find the happiness he’s always longed for? He’s excited by the possibilities, but Casey doesn’t like to be touched. That could be a problem. These two young men’s lives become as intricately entwined as the cases that Gom finds himself involved in throughout the story.

14.What’s your newest WIP? And when we can expect a publication date?

What I’m working on now is a sequel to Take It EASY. It is Daniel’s story and it is titled Take It Slow. It deals with the rescue and subsequent establishing of relationships for Daniel who has gone through two years of hell. The bond between he and his dad was broken and to get it back they will have to take it slow… When? I’ve been away from it for the last month due to my mother’s health and now her passing. I'm back to it now. I need to get it done this summer so I can do Trick’s story, from For Gom’s Sake, before December. I also need to work on Mark and Wade’s story from Love, Grant. I have lots to work on.

15.How many novels do you have, that are currently published? Please list all the publishers, so the readers can locate you.

Twenty and counting.

Novels at Torquere Press

Smart Alex, Dare To, Brackets, Take it EASY, and Tommy’s Story (The Six of Pentacles)

Short Stories at Torquere Press

Uniforms, Dare’s Christmas Gift, Magic Happens, Between Us, Between Us Two, The Only Thing That Matters

Novels at Total-E-Bound

Love, Jamie Love, Grant Too Keen

Short Stories at Total-E-Bound

Bought and Paid For

Novels at MLR Press

Stone Canyon, Cold Winters, Soldier, For Gom’s Sake

Short Stories at Silver Publishing

Something for Santa

16.Where do you see your writing career in the next five to ten years?

I would love to be making a living at writing. In other words, I want to write more, and always better, books. I would like to produce more work than I am able to do now. Things will settle down soon and I can focus on writing. I miss getting lost in the stories. I have ideas for several books and I’m looking forward to getting them done and sent in. I’d like to write them just like I read them, one right after the other. Because, another secret? I’m not one that can have four or five going at the same time. I write one and then start another. Maybe that’s something I could work on, huh?